What Is The Male Gaze? Definition, Examples & Historical Importance

If you subscribe to Netflix, you’ve probably seen a few movies in which the camera seems to focus on a woman’s body for a few seconds longer than necessary (or what would happen if it was a man).

That’s called the “male gaze,” and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about it.

In feminist theory, the male gaze is the gaze of seeing women and the female world, from a male, straight viewpoint which presents and depicts women as merely sexual objects for the enjoyment of the straight male viewer.

However, the term is often misused by women to describe any kind of sexual contact with a man.

The Female Gaze is not so easy to define, because its definition depends on the gaze that the woman has for her man and the satisfaction that she gets out of it.

In fact, most of the time the Female Gaze does not even involve sex. This is because the Gaze is not sexual but emotional.

What Is The Male Gaze?

Where did the idea of a “male gaze” come from? What does it mean to be objectified by the male gaze? This blog post will answer these questions and more.

The idea of a “male gaze” is one that has been around since the late 1800s. The male gaze refers to when a heterosexual man ogles or stares at an objectified woman in a sexualized way.

This can be seen through media, such as advertisements and television shows, where women are represented as objects for men’s use and pleasure.

This was a relatively new idea at the time – this “male gaze” is now understood as more than just an aesthetic decision; it’s also seen as a way in which men can exert power over women.

Origin Of The Male Gaze

The male gaze, as a term, was coined by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in 1975. The idea of the “male gaze” is that through media and culture women are objectified and seen primarily for their physical appearance.

Mulvey’s article states that men have historically had power over what they wanted to see or not see in visual art because it was predominately made by them.

She argues that this has led to an artistic tradition where males get pleasure from looking at females who take on passive roles.

In her feminist theory, the male gaze represents how society teaches young girls that they need to look desirable in order to get attention from boys while also teaching young boys that it is okay to view women as sex objects.

In the late 1800s, French art critic and historian John Ruskin wrote about how paintings of nude women should be framed so that they are looking out at you.

The origin of the male gaze is a concept in feminist theory that argues that women are viewed as objects for men’s sexual pleasure.

However, his idea was first coined by Laura Mulvey, who introduced it in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” which she wrote for Screen 16:3 in 1975.

In her words, “the determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly”.

There’s been a lot of talks recently about the male gaze. The term was popularized by feminist film critic Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” to describe what she called “the dominant cinema.”

The male gaze is an omnipresent force in our society, shaping how we view media, people, even ourselves.

When you see a woman on TV or in a magazine ad or at school, there’s no telling who is looking at her- you? your dad? your best friend?

But it doesn’t matter because the problem lies not with who sees her but why they’re seeing her.

What does this have to do with us women? Well…everything!

The idea is that in films, a woman’s visual appearance is what matters most to an active audience member (often assumed to be a man) and she must appear especially pleasing and sexually available for him.

The most common examples of this are when you see scenes where only one woman is shown on screen while there are many men around her, such as those iconic shots from movies like Gone With The Wind or Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

Where Did The Male Gaze Come From?

It’s been a long-held belief that men are attracted to women and vice versa, but where did this idea come from? In the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud argued that there is an innate sexual desire for the opposite sex in all people.

This theory was widely accepted until Alfred Kinsey published his research on sexuality in 1948. Kinsey’s findings showed that most male subjects he interviewed had some form of homosexual experience as well as heterosexual experiences.

He also found that many females were more aroused by images of other females than males.

Male Gaze is typically associated with sexualizing the female body which causes women to be seen as objects rather than people. Male Gazes are often found in advertising, pornography, fashion magazines, or other media depicting attractive females.

In particular, it refers to how the camera frames images of women according to what is considered most appealing or sexually stimulating for men, typically emphasizing their physical attributes such as their legs, chest, and buttocks.

The male gaze is often defined as the way in which women are objectified and presented in media. It has been around for centuries, but it was not until recently that there have been discussions about its impact on society and how we see each other.

Finding The Male Gaze

The male gaze can be seen when a woman in a movie wears an outfit that shows her cleavage or if she is being objectified sexually by the camera.”

In the past, photography has been a male-dominated profession. The camera was seen as a phallic symbol and the photographer would often be called “The Male Gaze.”

   

But with the progression of time, women have become more involved in photography and many are now making their own mark on this field.

The Male Gaze Theory

According to the theory, women are portrayed as passive objects of desire through a masculine lens. The male gaze is not just about how men view women but also how they create female characters.

Mulvey argued that this creates an imbalance between subjectivity and objectification in visual media.

It can be seen when a woman’s body is filmed from a distance or at eye level with the camera, while she remains largely static and silent.

This contrasts with scenes where there are active participants who don’t happen to be female-such as car chases, sword fights.

The theory suggests how men look at women on screen as if they are objects to be coveted or possessed, which then dehumanizes them.

This theory has been critiqued for focusing too much on visual aspects when it comes to sexuality; there have also been criticisms towards its assumptions about heterosexuality.

The Effects Of The Male Gaze

The camera lens creates a powerful feeling of voyeurism and as the viewer, we have the power to look over someone’s shoulder or watch them from afar.

But what happens when that power shifts?

The power dynamics in these types of situations mean that women are always subject to the desires and fantasies of the masculine gaze.

It’s important to note that it doesn’t matter who creates the images because they perpetuate these ideas through their work.

When people are looking at a photograph, they often want to be the ones in control.

The male gaze is a derogatory term for the act of representing women in an objectifying manner.

Examples Of The Male Gaze In Film: Transformers

How often do you find yourself watching a movie and realizing that the camera is focused on a woman’s body? This type of framing, or male gaze, has been used in film for decades. The Transformers franchise is no exception to this rule.

The Transformers movie franchise is one of the most successful and popular franchises in cinematic history. The series has grossed $3 billion worldwide, with the first film surpassing $700 million globally.

Though a financial success, many critics have argued that this franchise perpetuates an objectifying male gaze through its female characters by highlighting their physical attributes over their personalities and relegating them to subservient roles to men.

The first sentence is a statement that the blog post will be about the male gaze in film. The second sentence provides background information on Transformers.

The third sentence discusses examples of how movies and TV shows depict women, and what this means for society.

I am here to discuss the male gaze in film and give you an example of a movie that is very much about this. Transformers: The Last Knight is one such prime example, as it features many scenes where men are objectified by being turned into female robots just for the sake of sexual gratification.

A prominent example of the male gaze in film can be seen in the 2007 film Transformers. Although the male gaze is present throughout most of the movie, I am going to be talking about one specific scene.

The first scene starts off with a shot of the backside of Mikaela (played by Megan fox) walking. She is wearing a short skirt and a fitted cut-off shift and has long hair that bounces as she walks.

This image was clearly made to satisfy the desires of the male audience members. Moments later, we see Sam (played by Shia LaBeouf) intensely gazing upon Mikaela’s body.

There is the slightest hint of character development when Mikaela reveals that she knows so much about cars because of her dad.

However, this character development likely only serves to distract from the fact that she is only present to satisfy the masculine scopophilic desires of Sam and the audience.

Changing The Gaze

It’s time to change the gaze.

The way we look at and talk about sex is outdated and misogynistic, it’s time for a new perspective.

We need to move away from a culture that sees women as objects of desire or deserving of disdain – either-or, but not both – towards one where women are seen as whole people.

Every day we see images in advertising and media with an implicit message: this is what society wants you to be like; this is how you should look; this is how you should behave (and feel).

These messages come from our friends, family members, coworkers, teachers – all these people who have power over us. And they’re telling us the same thing: You’re not.

Women have been fighting for more than a century to change the way their male counterparts look at them. This fight has taken many forms, from suffrage and feminism movements to campaigns against sexual harassment and victim-blaming.

It’s time that we start looking deeper into how these external forces are shaping our perceptions of women, and what can be done about it.

What does it mean to change the gaze?

In cinema, changing the gaze means shifting perspectives from a cis-hetero male perspective to a queer female perspective. It’s about looking at things differently and seeing what has been missing all along.

It’s about recognizing that women don’t always feel comfortable in their own skin or around men who do not understand them and that this is detrimental for everyone involved. All genders are entitled to respect, dignity and space, while also being able to express themselves as they please – no matter how different they may seem on the surface.

Women deserve more than just an acknowledgment of their existence; they need time and opportunity to tell their stories without fear of rejection or misunderstanding by society at large.

Recognize The Male Gaze

A recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that most men are aware of the term “male gaze,” but they don’t really know what it means.

So, let’s break it down for them: male gaze is a theory in feminist film criticism and art history which holds that women are objectified and looked at as sexual objects by both male artists and viewers.

When looking at images of both sexes, males are usually gazing out into the distance or focusing on something else important like their own emotions while females are usually staring back at someone or something directly.

It’s important to note that a man can be objectified just like a woman would be but it’s much more likely for a woman to be objectified because there are fewer female directors making films than there are males.

And, it’s important for everyone to recognize the male gaze and understand how it affects society.

The male gaze is a term used to describe the act of viewing women through the lens of society’s expectations for men.

This phenomenon has been present throughout history, and it exists in modern-day media as well.

The effects that this style of photography has on women are not only physical but also psychological.

What Is The Male Gaze In Art?

The male gaze can be seen in many forms of media, such as film, photography, and even art.

Though not every instance of the male gaze is negative or harmful, it has been argued that this phenomenon positions females as subordinate to males by presenting them solely through their sexuality.

Have you ever seen a painting or sculpture of a naked woman? Have you ever looked at the way her body is positioned in the frame, feeling oddly uncomfortable?

As if someone was watching you and judging your own thoughts and feelings about her nudity? Well, that’s because we are.

The male gaze is not only an outdated ideology but also one which has had a profound effect on how art history has been documented for centuries.
 

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